


And the Secret that Saved the Day

by benjaminrussell



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, Superpowers AU, minor references to s4, their relationship can be read as romantic or platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 04:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13495150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/pseuds/benjaminrussell
Summary: Each of the Librarians is keeping a secret, but the truth has a habit of coming out, especially when it might save a life or three.Ezekiel, Cassandra, and Jacob are on a straight forward mission to retrieve a death bestowing artefact, but it’s going to take the sharing of a well kept secret to get them home safely.





	And the Secret that Saved the Day

Ezekiel is keeping a secret. Okay, fine, he’s keeping more than a few secrets, but this is the big one. Everything else - his MI6 days, his childhood, the truth behind his heists – his friends at the Library probably have some kind of inkling about, but he’s made absolutely certain to never reveal anything even remotely to do with his powers. That is his biggest secret, and even after becoming a Librarian and all that that entailed, he’s still hiding the fact that he has a sonic scream. He came close to revealing his power to Jake and Cassie separately during the time loop (and the fact that he remembers it at all is another secret he’s keeping), but that doesn’t count because neither of them remember anything other than the final loop. It’s not that he doesn’t trust them (in fact he probably trusts them more than he’s trusted anyone else in his life), just that after a lifetime of keeping secrets it’s difficult to break the habit, especially about something this big.

Cassandra is keeping a secret. Unlike all the secrets she’d kept surrounding her tumour, this one she never has any intention of sharing. She hinted at it after her surgery, when both her synesthesia and her telepathy returned more powerful than ever and she had to relearn how to control them both, but in the end she’d played it off as a side effect of the synesthesia becoming stronger and said that she’d never explore the possibilities. She understands why the idea of telepathy is so scary, the idea that someone could just control you with a thought, but making sure she had complete control over her abilities was one of the first things she’d taught herself to do, and she’s made a vow to herself to never take away someone else’s free will. She’s going to keep practicing, honing her power, and even possibly use it occasionally on a mission, but she’ll never let her friends know.

Jake is keeping a secret. He has the power of flight, and has done since he was a teenager, trying desperately to fit in with his friends and family despite all the ways that even then he’d known he was different. He’d thought at that point that he’d never tell anyone about his powers, but since then he’d come clean about his identity and genius to not only the academic community but more importantly his family, and now he’s considering sharing this secret too. Not with his family, no he doesn’t think they would believe him, never mind understand, but with his friends at the library. As their lives are full of magic every day, he figures it’s not much of a stretch to believe in the existence of superpowers too. He just keeps finding reasons to put off actually sharing the truth, telling himself it’s not the right time, that he should wait until they’re not busy whatever their current mission happens to be. Of course they’re always busy with something or other, so at some point he’s going to have to admit that that excuse is just that – an excuse.

***

Jake, Cassie, and Ezekiel had found the artefact they’d come to the old, half buried mausoleum for, but unfortunately it was still in the hands of the tomb robber who’d unearthed it and who’d been driven half mad by the power it contained. The artefact was a short rod about a foot in length that shot bolts of energy that upon contact rapidly aged the victim until there was nothing left of them but a pile of dust and bones, and now the tomb robber had them pinned down with it, trapping them in the main room of the mausoleum. They’d already seen the awful effect of the rod, when one of the woman’s crew had got caught in the crossfire, and they were all determined that none of them would be next. They were hiding in a small alcove where she couldn’t hit them without giving up the high ground of the stairs that led to the exit, but they also couldn’t get anywhere else. Ezekiel had already tried sneaking around the edge of the room, but to no avail – she’d spotted him almost immediately and he’d narrowly avoided being hit whilst diving back for cover. Jake had one last idea to try though. If someone could approach from above, say someone with the ability to fly who could hug the ceiling and keep out of the tomb robber’s line of sight, then they might just be able to get close without being noticed.

“I’ve got an idea,” He told the other two Librarians in a low voice, “But I’m going to need a distraction so I can sneak out of the alcove without her spotting me.”

“What are you going to do?” Cassie asked, looking at him worriedly like she thought he was about to do something dangerous, which admittedly he was, but he thought he had a good chance of succeeding. He knew explaining his plan would just lead to lots of questions and that now really wasn’t the time to be answering them, so he just gave a small shake of his head and said, “You’ll see.”

“I can distract her,” Ezekiel offered, poking his head out of the alcove briefly to check the tomb robber was still stood on the stairs. A blast of energy shortly followed, hitting the wall near where his head had just been, but he’d been expecting that and didn’t even flinch.

“Let me know when,” He added. Jake took a deep breath, and then said, “On three.” He got a quick nod from Ezekiel, and a whispered, “Be careful,” from Cassie, before starting the count. On three Ezekiel threw himself out of the alcove, darting and diving and flipping so he was never in the same space for more than an instant, a display that was so impressive that Jake almost forgot what he was about to do. As soon as he thought the woman’s attention was no longer on the alcove, he pushed off the ground and floated up out of the alcove, ignoring Cassie’s surprised gasp and the explosions following Ezekiel, despite how much he wanted to watch the younger man to make sure he was okay. He shot straight up to the ceiling of the main room, before angling his body and slowly flying towards the exit, being careful not to catch himself on the uneven ceiling. Then when he was almost directly above the tomb robber, he took his chance, dropping down next to the arm holding the rod and punching her solidly in the temple as he landed. She went down like a bag of rocks, the rod falling from her grasp and rolling down the stairs, clunking as it went, right into Cassie’s outstretched hands. There was a beat of silence, and then the three of them heaved a shared sigh of relief – it was over. Now they just had to get back into mobile signal range and call Jenkins for a door home. The quiet didn’t last long though, as Cassie and Ezekiel immediately turned to Jake and started questioning him about the fact he just flew, talking over each other in their excitement.

“How did you do that?”

“How long have you been able to fly?”

“How high can you go?”

“Do you ever accidentally swallow bugs?”

Jake made sure the tomb robber was soundly unconscious before heading up the stairs to the exit, knowing the others would be right behind him. He’d rather get out of the mausoleum before answering their questions, not wanting to stay there any longer than necessary now they had the artefact, so he waited until they were all out in the fresh air to begin his story.

“I first found out I could fly when I was thirteen,” He told them, a little nervously but determined to get it all out in the open now they knew about his power, “I don’t know why I’m able to, but all I have to do is think about flying, in the same way you walk or talk. I haven’t tested the limits of how high I can go, but I imagine it’s about where the air gets too thin to breathe.” He ignored Ezekiel’s last question, not wanting to admit that yes, he had had a few mid air collisions with insects, including one unfortunate occasion where he’d almost fallen out of the sky because he’d inhaled a fly and started choking on it. What he found surprising when he thought about it though, was that neither of them had asked him why he hadn’t told them before. Before he could dwell on it too much, Ezekiel spoke up again, sounding a lot more serious than he had done few moments before.

“I’ve got something to show you too,” He said, glancing around at the woods around them, before looking back at Jake and Cassie, “You might want to cover your ears.” Then he stopped walking, turned his back to them, and screamed. Except ‘scream’ was an understatement, because the sound was so loud that Jake’s ears were ringing despite the fingers he’d stuffed in them, and the trees bearing the brunt of the attack were noticeably bending away from the noise. Ezekiel closed his mouth and turned around again, leaves and twigs falling to the ground behind him, and gave a cheeky grin.

“Surprise!” He cried, sounding a lot more relaxed about the whole situation than Jake guessed he probably was, because apparently Jake wasn’t the only one who’d been hiding superpowers, and he knew how stressful it had been for him. But he could feel the relief that came from knowing two of the most important people to him were not only okay with the truth, but excited about it, and he knew Ezekiel must be feeling that relief too, even if he’d never admit to such a mundane thing as having been worried. He saw Ezekiel’s smile slip as he looked at Cassie though, and so Jake turned towards her too, to see her worrying her lip and looking distinctly uncomfortable.

“…Cassie?” He asked, automatically taking a step towards her. She didn’t open her mouth, but suddenly he could hear her voice right inside his head.

“I’m telepathic. And not because of my synesthesia,” She said, a hint of both excitement and nerves evident in her tone, even though she was speaking telepathically.

“Aces!” Ezekiel exclaimed, bounding forward to high five Cassie and fist bump Jake in quick succession, “We all have superpowers!” Jake opened his mouth to ask a question, wanting to know all about his friends’ powers now their secrets were all out in the open, but before he could speak he heard the unmistakable sound of guns cocking. Almost on instinct he leapt into the air, seeking the height advantage, and he could soon see the source of the noise – two men who looked like they were the tomb robber’s cronies had their guns trained on Ezekiel and Cassie, while a third had his pointed at where Jake had just been. The third quickly pulled his gun up to aim at where Jake was now floating in the sky above, but Jake flew towards him, planning on knocking him out before he could get a good shot in. Fear for his friends drove him, but he needn’t have worried because before he even reached his target, Ezekiel’s cry rang out, knocking one of the men back into a tree, and the other one dropped his gun to clutch at his head. Presumably Cassie’s work, even though he had no idea what she’d done. Then he rounded out the triple take down by landing on the last man’s chest, winding him so badly that he didn’t even try and deflect Jake’s knock out punch. Jake stepped back and surveyed the aftermath of that very brief fight – two of the men unconscious, and the third curled up and clutching his head, then looked back at his friends and surprising even himself, started to laugh.

“We should probably get back to the Library,” Ezekiel said, eyeing Jake warily, “I think Stone must have hit his head at some point.” Jake shook his head and tried to reign in his laughter, but he only managed to gasp out, “I’m okay,” before he caught the confused expressions both Cassie and Ezekiel were sporting, sending him back into its clutches. The laughter must have been contagious though, because it wasn’t long before the other two succumbed, their laughter filling their surroundings for several minutes.

Eventually they all managed to calm down enough to think about actually getting back, and they started back on the short trek to the nearby village where they’d be able to get some phone signal and ring Jenkins for a door, Cassie still clutching her stomach and Ezekiel wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. Jake himself felt noticeably lighter, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and if he didn’t know better, he would have thought he’d started accidentally floating like he had done sometimes when he’d first got his powers. He knew it was just the relief of sharing his secret though, with an outcome that was even better than he could have imagined, and it wasn’t until they reached the outskirts of the village that he managed to tamp down on the smile spanning his face. Ezekiel then pulled out his phone and made a quick phone call, before directing them down a side street to an unobserved back door. Cassie reached for the handle, pausing just before she turned it, and glanced at Jake and Ezekiel.

“I’m not ready to tell the others just yet,” She said, the unspoken question in her words evident from her tone. Jake smiled again, a reassuring one this time, and squeezed her shoulder briefly.

“We can wait until you’re ready. Right, Jones?” He replied, cocking his head slightly in Ezekiel’s direction, but the younger man was already nodding.

“It can be our secret for now, just the three of us,” Ezekiel added, shooting them both a happy grin. Apparently that was a good enough reassurance, because Cassie pushed the door open, repeating just as she stepped through the portal, “Just the three of us.” It also reflected a larger truth, Jake thought – they were a trio that embodied the saying ‘a whole is stronger than the sum of its parts’, a trio with stronger bonds than some old suspicion, no matter what Darrington Dare thought, and they were all chosen by the Library to be a team. They were Librarians, and they would always be so. _Together_.

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by watching all of Runaways in a short period of time, even if there’s not much similarity to the show or the comics.
> 
> Feel free to say hi on [tumblr](%E2%80%9Cbenjaminrussell.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D), just to chat, or if you want to hear some of my headcanons about their powers.


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